Transportation of large bales of material in the agricultural industry is a difficult and time consuming process. In particular, securing bales of material to a transport device, such as a trailer, is time consuming and requires physically intense labor. Most often, bales are secured to a trailer by straps. Previous methods of securing the straps to the trailer include loading the bales on the trailer, manually attaching the straps to one side of the trailer, manually throwing or otherwise placing the straps over the bales, securing the straps to the opposite side of the bales, and tightening the straps to secure the bales to the trailer. Such a process can take forty-five minutes or more, as well as strenuous manual labor. Accordingly, transporting large bales is a difficult task.
Attempts have been made to automate parts of this process; however, they all have drawbacks. In addition, devices of the prior art do not go far enough in automating the process. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,790 is directed to a covering system for a trailer and method of using same. The disclosed trailer employs a roller which may be positioned to the first side of a trailer. Straps may then be removably attached to a roller, which places the straps across the bales. The straps are then detached from the roller and secured to the trailer. The trailer and method of U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,790 have drawbacks. The user must manually attach the straps to the roller, the primary purpose of which is to position a cover over the bales. Furthermore, the user must manually detach the straps from the roller and secure same to the trailer, thus securing the bales to the trailer. Therefore, the straps are temporarily attached to the roller rather than permanently attached.
Another reference, U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,700 discloses a system and method for strapping a load. The system includes two rollers which are parallel to each other and supported by a frame. In the open position, the rollers are located in an upright position near the top center of the trailer. Strapping is secured on each of the rollers to span between the roller and the lower side of the trailer. Once bales are in place on the trailer, the user manually unrolls the strapping from the roller using a crank and ratchet mechanism. The invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,044,700 has deficiencies. In particular, a user must still manually unroll and secure the straps to safely secure the bales to the trailer for transport.
Yet another reference, U.S. Pat. No. 7,189,042 discloses a bale transport system wherein straps are attached to opposite ends of a cover that is positioned by a set of two rollers. The straps are positioned via spools. As the cover is unrolled to the closed position, the bale straps are also dispensed from the spools.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,925 discloses an assembly for securing cargo upon a load bed. The assembly includes two tie support arms, one in the front of the trailer and one in the rear. The tie support arms are connected via two parallel, longitudinally extending straps, or ties. The tie support arms may move downward to secure bales or upward for loading and unloading of the bales. Once all bales and crossbars are in place, the ties are moved downward to secure the bales and crossbars. U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,925 does not disclose a bale strapping apparatus wherein straps are laterally positioned over the bales. Rather the reference discloses an apparatus wherein straps are longitudinally positioned over the bales, which is a less safe configuration. Accordingly, U.S. Pat. No. 7,866,925 also has deficiencies.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a bale strapping apparatus wherein the straps are permanently attached the trailer and automatically positioned over the bales to be transported. Furthermore, the apparatus should position the straps laterally across the bales for transportation. Such an apparatus may include means to automatically tighten the straps across the bales, further securing the load for transport. Such an apparatus should preferably keep the entire space above the trailer open for convenient loading and unloading. Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the drawings and detailed description to follow.